50 East 57th Street @ 432 Park Avenue (former Drake Hotel site)

[BrooklynLove]

Truth is that you know no more than I do about what is going up here. But thank you for confirming your arrogance.

[RoldanTTLB]

It's a lot harder to tear down a 30-story high-rise than a 4-story tenement. Not just physically, but finding a pragmatic economic rationale will be difficult, if not impossible. Yes, once upon a time we had the fearsome will to tear down the Singer building and Penn Station, not to mention flatten whole neighborhoods, but that was a different building culture. New York is stuck with the the Kaufmans and Poons – and the acres and acres of similar crap. And these concrete and glass piles will not age nearly as gracefully as their brick and brownstone forebears. It's depressing.

I think there's 2 issues here, though (based on the response after this one as well). The first is the assumption that zoning won't change in a way that significantly taller buildings won't be built in the same place as buildings are now. I think this is a bad assumption. Additionally, we see buildings of various heights torn down all the time for larger buildings to be put up. The 14 or 15 story building currently coming down for a 30 story dorm on Broadway is one such example. That said, while you are correct that we do not have the gumption to tear down a Singer or a Penn Station now, there is no reason to believe that we wouldn't be willing to tear down a Poon or a Kaufman given the chance. Another point is the aging process. Many of the old buildings have not aged gracefully. They require a significant amount of maintenance to keep standing, attractive, and viable. I see this in the very CoOp I live in. It is not cheap to keep a pre-war building standing. I believe that these new buildings will age as gracefully as old ones, which is to say that it is entirely dependent on how they are cared for over time. Much of the city was, at one time or another in the past 200 years, left for dead. Nothing can age gracefully in that environment.

[econ_tim]

CIM, meanwhile, recently reached agreements to relocate two existing tenants on the south side of 57th street, British clothier Turnbull & Asser and Italian jewelry maker Buccellati. Their departures will allow CIM to demolish the existing stores and open up about 100 feet of space on the block, say people familiar with the matter.
The Los Angeles investors considered a boutique hotel at the site, which faces the five-star Four Seasons Hotel on 57th street, but are now expected to devote that space to luxury condos or office and retail, people who know CIM say.
The project is being designed by Rafael Vinoly.
CIM acquired the site of the former Drake Hotel on Park Avenue last year for $305 million, according to public property records. A CIM spokesman declined to comment on the project's financing.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj

[londonlawyer]

Office space would likely lead to a much shorter tower. That would stink.

[RoldanTTLB]

Ok, let's bump it up based on the activity at other forums. I think there's something really important to keep in mind here, though. International skyscrapers can be anywhere from incredibly nice (1CMP, Lever House, 1WSP/88Pine), to incredibly bad (1NYP, 55Water, etc). They are all cut from, effectively, the exact same mold. I am not and would not be in any way disappointed with an International style tower with regards to shape (box) or massing (constant). That said, a cheap skin would ruin this building. If that happens, all bets are off.

[londonlawyer]

This is what they're posting on other forums. It looks amazing to me.

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/w...S_G_lion/3.png

[antinimby]

No they will not go bankrupt. Quite the contrary, they and Macklowe will get filthy rich because New Yorkers (and non-New Yorkers) will snap it all up.

If there is no public review, landmarks review, etc., there is absolutely no reason for any developer to build ambitious in this city. It would just be a waste of money.

Apartments will sell like hotcakes regardless of what it looks like on the outside.

[RoldanTTLB]

May I add that if any of the buildings in that picture actually looked like that, life would be pretty awful. Thankfully, we don't live in a lossy compression of a bad render.

[scumonkey]

Even if it only looks remotely like what's in the render, how is this more worthy to share the sky with the empire state building than the tower Verre?

[STR]

Quick and dirty model based on the mystery renders.

[econ_tim]

This rendering makes it look like the facade might have some interesting depth to it.

[lofter1]

Height???

[econ_tim]

Other sites are reporting 433m (1,420ft)

[LightningEagle]

I hope it will look alot better!!!

[scumonkey]

I wouldn't hold my breath.